What are widgets? They’re cool, customizable mini-applications that can be embedded directly into to a web page, bringing live feeds, games and user specific information to your visitors. Popular social media sites offer simple chunks of code you can insert on your site to create instant widgets.

For example, by adding a Facebook widget to your company’s site, you immediately have a visually attractive and customized entry point readily available for visitors to connect with you. Via your Facebook widget, visitors can see up-to-the-minute wall postings and become your fan with a click. And of course the widget links directly to your Facebook page.

There is a vast and growing range of widgets available. Below is an example showing how Signal has combined three widgets (including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook) on one “connect with us” page. Visit the Alma Lasers Connect page and see the widgets in action!

As social media titan, Facebook, celebrates its fifth birthday, it seems that the members of the Facebook community are maturing as well. Currently, the fastest growing demographic of site users is women aged 55 and up. A recent tally counted over 717,000 members in this group, marking a 175% increase in number since 2008.

While the growth of this demographic is certainly noteworthy, members of Facebook who are over age 55 account for only 3% of total users. Those who believe that the site is dominated by a much younger crowd, however, might be surprised to learn that teenagers make up only 12% of total users.

To learn more about Facebook’s changing demographics, check out this article written by Helen Leggatt on BizReport.com.